“Western Churches Neglect Causes of Radical Islam’s Rise In Africa” by Archbishop Council Nedd II

Op-ed submission by Project 21

How did radical Islam become a legitimate threat in sub-Saharan Africa?

Should we care? Perhaps, because one possible reason stretches beyond the African continent. It may eminate from our own houses of worship.

After the recent shopping mall attack in Nairobi, Kenya by the Muslim terrorist group Al Shabaab, counterterrorism experts fear increased collaboration among the growing ranks of religious radicals in Africa operating across borders in vast, poorly-policed regions.

While terrorism experts are concerned with expanding radicalized Islam, my own leadership role in the Christian community has me preoccupied with how historically Christian areas and formerly majority-Christian countries are now under constant threat from al-Shabaab, Boko Haram and al-Qaeda in the Islam Maghreb.

It’s too soon to declare African Christianity dead, but it’s certainly ailing — and the West is to blame.

Christians went to great lengths to “civilize” Africa, and part and parcel of that process was bringing Christianity to sub-Saharan Africa. But since then, the Church of England and the Episcopal Church in the U.S. ostensibly have abandoned proselytizing in Africa. Most mainstream Western Christian denominations, in fact, now look with disdain on those still adhering to the very same faith churches once taught.

The Episcopal Church, for example, no longer adheres to the doctrine of the Bible as the inspired word of God. The Western evangelical church in particular proclaims an overly-feminized form of Christianity in which men cannot act as men and women assert a theology that gives them dominion over men. This “enlightened” West no longer honors the God-given roles and distinctions between men and women. Actually, it demonizes them. This is why Christianity lost its appeal in, and it’s hold on, Africa.

The Western church no longer builds up men for the Body of Christ. When the church prefers to place women in masculine roles, while discouraging men, the blessings of God vanish and it creates a vacuum. When the Christian ministry becomes an occupation for those liking pretty buildings and beautiful vestments rather than a vocation to serve God, it’s no wonder serious Christians scoff and look elsewhere.

The Christian church in Africa and around the world has left a gap that Islam is filling.
Men clearly need the civilizing influence of women, but they also must remain men. The church is too involved in a feminizing process. Wanting to love and serve God should not be at the expense of God-given manhood. I am an unapologetic Christian, but I know that nothing in Islam requires or expects men to deny their manhood.  Islam does quite the opposite — encouraging separate manhood and womanhood.

Almost 100 years ago, English writer and lay theologian G.K. Chesterton said that most men in his day were reduced to Victorian lapdogs when it came to Christianity. What might he say today? There are now Christians who change the word of Jesus in the Lord’s Prayer to “Our Father and Mother who art in heaven” and the nature of Jesus in the Holy Trinity. Is there little wonder why there aren’t more men in church and why men seeking God might turn away from modern Western Christianity?

Why would a man want to be part of a faith in which they are to be seen and never heard? Couple this with the general depiction of Christ as sort of a pansy with well-manicured nails and a perfectly-trimmed beard. It is not is no surprise men are uncomfortable with this, and subsequently are unwilling to become churchmen.

In my lifetime, Ethiopia, one of the most storied Christian nations, took the path of India. Once majority-Christian, it is now divided into Eritrea, which is majority Muslim, and Ethiopia, which may be at least half-Muslim.

If people are genuinely concerned about the spread of Islam and subsequent radicalization, they should consider the Christianity they practice and teach. Pastors no longer proclaim the Gospel, but instead favor of gay marriage or the prevailing populous cause de jure.

Don’t worry about Islam. The imams are doing their job. It’s the pastors and priests who aren’t doing theirs.

Archbishop Council Nedd II, a member of the national advisory council of the Project 21 black leadership network. He is the presiding bishop of the Episcopal Missionary Church in the United States and the Archbishop of Abu Dhabi.

“Life, Liberty and Happiness” by Archbishop Council Nedd II

Op-ed submission by Project 21

In an increasingly secular America — where moral absolutes have vanished — it is not surprising that same-sex marriage referendums recently passed in Maryland, Washington and Maine.

After all, noted theologian N.T. Wright said, “by itself, human reason can no more be guaranteed to tell us which way to go than a compass in a room full of strong magnets.”

A recent survey by the Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life found approximately one in five Americans — roughly 33 million people — have no religious affiliation. Of those, 13 million consider themselves atheist or agnostic. That’s a lot of people without spiritual grounding!

Furthermore, the gravitas of the “Catholic vote,” once coveted by politicians and which struck fear into the hearts of the church leadership’s political opposition, has dissipated like a morning dew — leaving only memories of its former power. And, because of black pastors who place political expedience ahead of theological integrity, the mythic “black church” seems to have turned from a sanctuary from life’s turmoil to a directionless moneychangers den of thieves.

Lacking a moral compass, there’s a general assumption now that we are all good people and any behavior can be countenanced no matter how abhorrent it may be to others. That being said, I don’t fault individuals merely following their id because no one is there to caution them otherwise.

I don’t really fault those seeking same-sex marriages. I don’t fault the non-religious. I fault those whom God placed in a position of authority over the past 50 years who failed to do what was required and expected of them.

There are many to blame for society’s current wanderings.

First, politicians sold out. Then, community leaders sold out. Now, the religious establishment is selling out. In the span of mere generations, a population grew up without any true moral leadership. This has put the nation in the treacherous position it is in today.

Specifically, I fault teachers who let kids graduate from high school without the ability to read. I fault politicians more concerned with reelection than properly tending to our tax dollars. I further fault politicians who use the office the American people gave them to merely gather accolades and largess rather than serve constituents’ best interests.

I also fault pastors more obsessed with preaching about politics than the gospel.

When people of faith emerge from their homes and look — mouths agape — at the world around them, wondering about the current state of affairs, I lament the systemic and chronic “responsibility fail” that got us into this mess.

At some point, people must realize the consequences of the their actions.

Rome was undoubtedly an amazing and fun place back in the year 350 A.D. But paganism, lack of gratitude, hedonism, monetary troubles and military problems along with a covetous world eventually took its toll on Roman society.

Most people educated enough to have studied this sort of thing in college (or even high school) history seem inclined to ignore the parallels and seem unwilling to confront the current peril.

Chapter four of St. Paul’s second letter to the Corinthians reminds us that our political and religious leaders should not preach about themselves, but rather about the Lord and that the “excellency of the power” and wonder of our nation is of God and not us.

Our nation’s Founding Fathers recognized this when they acknowledged that we are endowed by our Creator with an inalienable right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. This pursuit is not an entitlement because it is understood to exist within the framework of our moral and social fabric.

With prayer, we can weather this moral tsunami. We can because — though we may be hard-pressed on every side — we are not yet crushed. We may be perplexed, but we are not yet completely in despair. We may be persecuted, but we are not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed.

Archbishop Council Nedd II, a member of the national advisory council of the Project 21 black leadership network, is the presiding bishop of the Episcopal Missionary Church and the chairman of In God We Trust.